Psychotherapy in Russia

Summary: V.M. Bekhterev’s school of psychotherapy emerged in tsarist Russia. During the Soviet time three psychotherapeutic schools loyal to the totalitarian regime were formed in Moscow, Leningrad and Kharkov. In 1970s the Eastern trend of psychotherapy started developing within the confines of dissident movement. Unlike the three above-mentioned schools of psychotherapy, the Eastern trend aimed not for the Soviet state, but for its people. Nowadays 47 modalities and methods of psychotherapy are recognized in Russia. According to experts, about 45 000 professionals are engaged in psychotherapeutic practice in our country. We work on the draft of a bill «On psychotherapeutic practice». Professional activities of psychotherapists working outside of the institutions affiliated to the Ministry of Health are regulated by the Self-Regulating Organization National Association for the Development of Psychotherapeutic and Psychological Science and Practice «The Union of Psychotherapists and Psychologists».

Author: Victor V. Makarov